How much would you love to watch the BBC iPlayer on any device in your home, at any time, without having to configure anything?

Then have we got some news for you! FoxyProxy has partnered with FlashRouters  to provide you with wifi routers that are pre-configured to work with your FoxyProxy account! Exciting, isn’t it?

So what does this mean for a FoxyProxy user? Watch BBC iplayer on any device, at any time without configuring it. All devices using the wifi router automatically use your proxy or VPN. No need to configure your phones, laptops, tablets, PCs, and smart TVs. 

Here’s how it works. You select which wifi router you want (as low as $169), go through checkout, and then you are prompted to provide your FoxyProxy username, password, and server (details we give you when you purchase a FoxyProxy account.)

FlashRouters configures the router, then mails it to the customer. The customer plugs it in and, with zero setup, all devices that use that wifi connection are now “FoxyProxy-ified.” (including things like ChromeCast and Roku!)

So how are we able to do this? You’re probably familiar with all the firmware, bloatware, and other things which come pre-installed on many devices including TVs, computers, and phones. Wireless routers are no different. FlashRouters takes that pre-installed software and replaces it with their own custom programs. Replacing that software is called (wait for it…) “Flashing.”

FlashRouters buys off-the-shelf wifi routers, then “flashes” them with 1 of 2 open-source alternatives: Tomato Shibby or DD-WRT.  Why do they replace the manufacturer’s firmware with Tomato or DD-WRT? A few reasons:

1. Manufacturer firmware is usually just powerful enough to let you do simple things.

Router manufacturers make most of their products for non-technical users, making them simple and easy to use for the average customer, but also thereby limiting the potential of what they can really do.

Tomato and DD-WRT are much more feature-packed, and support things like VPN, increase your wireless coverage, monitor your bandwidth allocation, and keep your network as secure as humanly possible.

By using Tomato’s Advanced QoS (Quality of Service), you can even determine which of your online activities is given the most bandwidth (gaming and movie streaming can take top priority in order to avoid annoying freezes, stalls, etc), along with many other benefits. 

And DD-WRT transforms a retail, personal-class router into a powerful, multi-use, business-class router. With DD-WRT, a router’s enterprise potential can be unlocked at a home user’s price.

2. They are open-source.

So you know exactly what it’s doing. Thousands of eyes have written and reviewed the software, unlike the proprietary software that comes with wifi routers. This means there’s a much higher chance that your factory-loaded router is, or can be, compromised in some way.

There have been many cases of governments (US, China, just to name two) planting back-doors into router and networking software. In some cases, the company may be cooperating with its government, but in other cases the government physically intercepts and tampers with networking devices.

It’s true! Here are some examples:

FlashRouters has selected 4 devices for you to focus on, but any of the devices on their website can be pre-configured for FoxyProxy.

You can shop these routers HERE.